A Comparative Analysis of Self-Mentions in Applied Linguistics PhD Dissertations Written by Native and Non-Native English Writers

The purpose of the present study was to compare the PhD dissertations written by native and nonnative English writers in the field of Applied Linguistics with regard to the use of self-mentions. To this end, 40 Applied Linguistics PhD dissertations (20 written by native English writers and 20 by non-native English writers), were selected randomly among academic texts written in 2007-2017. The present study analyzed only the introduction and discussion sections of these PhD dissertations. The results of the chi-square analyses revealed that native English writers used more self-mentions in the introduction and discussion sections of Applied Linguistics PhD dissertations than their non-native counterparts. In the light of the findings of the study, it was recommended that Iranian writers in general and PhD candidates in particular have to move away from positivist impersonalized writing presentation towards more socialist performance of knowledge claims and authors’ voice and stance.